Presented here are portions of Elder Daniel Willoughby’s third email from the Georgia Atlanta Mission. Daniel’s departure for Mongolia has been delayed.

Elders Willoughby, Kwarteng, Mitchell, and Warner

Thanks for all the pictures. Bryson has hair! Wow he is growing up fast and I think there will be a new baby soon as well. Its fun to see the family. I enjoy seeing the pictures. I realize how blessed I have been to have a great family. I love all of you very much and thanks for everything you did for me.

President Anderson only allows one email [per week] so this is the only one I can write so I will address separate people within the email. :)

Yesterday we heard we are leaving. On Thursday at 3:00 our plane leaves, that’s all I’ve heard. It is exciting to be leaving but I’ve also learned to love these people. They are great and I’m sad I couldn’t spend more time here. I am called to Mongolia and I’m more than excited to get to work there! I know I was sent here for a reason and the lessons I learned here in Alabama I will continue to reflect on the rest of my mission. Also the rest of my life. I learned a great deal about how this is God’s work and I am His servant. He decides if He’ll use me and I must do all I can to be prepared for when that moment comes.

To Jake:

Yeah I realized that a lot of preachers here rely simply on the grace of Christ and they will be saved. If that were true life would be utterly pointless. We are saved by grace only after all we can do. There is a lot of Baptist preachers that have churches as a business. So they listen politely then they go on forever. They are God’s children and He’ll provide them with the choice to accept the Gospel somehow.

To Mom:

You decide… Like I said I can only send one email and obedience is most important to be a good missionary for the Lord. I am striving to be exactly obedient. I hope the package gets here in time, otherwise who knows what we’ll do. Also with the picture everyday I’m going to start slowly smiling then by the end of my mission I’ll have this big smile. He he. I should have took more pictures here but I did get a few.

To MTC teachers:

So I left my Book of Mormon in the class room on the shelf. In it are two pictures of my family that are laminated. Could you please find them and send them to me somehow? I’m sure my Mom will pay you. :) Thanks. If it’s not possible I will do something else.

Love, Elder Willoughby.

If anyone wishes to ask Daniel a question or to send him a message, write it in the comments and I will make sure he receives it.

Updates

11 Feb 2009 This evening I received an email from the Mongolia Ulaanbaatar Mission indicating that the missionaries’ departure has been delayed again until next Thursday.
13 Feb 2009 I just heard, via the mother of a missionary, that the departure may be for next Wednesday. Apparently the visas did not get to the right people in time to make the travel arrangements.

Presented here are portions of Elder Daniel Willoughby’s second email from the Georgia Atlanta Mission. Daniel’s departure for Mongolia has been delayed.

Mongolia on the MTC Map. Dan 5th from left.

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My teachers want to have a forward of my emails so can you add [their email addresses]? And also Brother Rampton who was in my branch presidency wants a forward. :)

I am in Lenett in Alabama and I have no idea what our address is. It’s on that letter that the mission home had us write when we first got here. Maybe they didn’t send it yet. My companion is really good and is working hard to become a good missionary. He is from Ghana which is really cool. He said he lived close to a temple there and his dad is in the MTC Presidency. He is willing to put in the effort to work hard.

Our apartment is great! Elder Warner and I are on splits with two missionaries here. I’m with Elder Kwarteng and Elder Warner is with Elder Mitchell. They basically split the existing area in half so we are getting a lot accomplished. When we follow the Spirit I can see how many have been prepared to receive the gospel. We live in an apartment owned by a member I think.

The people are great and ready to hear the gospel. I had an interesting experience where I was talking to someone on the street. He said how do you know the Book of Mormon is true. I said because I read and prayed about it and I received a witness. Then he went on to say, “Have you looked into your heart to see if you are saved?” To that I stared straight into his eyes and said I know it’s true. Just like PMG said, it’s hard to question a heart filled testimony that has the Spirit behind it. He said, “No it’s not,” somewhat childish like. It made me sad because he doesn’t realize the happiness the gospel can bring to him.

There are hundreds of churches here. 2 Nephi 28 is a perfect description. I have a desire to help Heavenly Father reach his children. I know he loves all of them and wants to help them. The people have a lot of background on the Bible so its a wonderful foundation to start with. There are many that are ready to accept the gospel here and when they read the Book of Mormon it has the power to convert them. I know this because that’s how I was converted.

Thomas was someone the Spirit helped us find. At first he rejected to listen to us. We were waiting to teach someone who was supposed to come home soon. I felt that we should just wait in the car. Thomas at first said he didn’t believe in God. After awhile he came and said, “Well as long as you are waiting you might as well preach to me.” It turns out he used to preach but he stopped because he realized that he was teaching too much the teachings of men. He said he has probably read every religious book out there but when we sat down and read the Book of Mormon with him he said something like, “Nothing has quite explained Christ as this book does.” He has great potential and we are continuing to work with him. I know that if he reads the Book of Mormon he will be converted and baptized.

It’s been good to hear from all of you and I am grateful to serve a mission. My testimony has grown so much this one week I have been here. I know this is God’s work and it is an honor to be an instrument in his hands. I will continue to work my best to improve myself so he can use me better. Thanks for all that you do for me and for the pictures, Steven. I love you mom and dad. I love Steven, Sarah, Paul, and Jake too, in no specific order. :)

Thanks MTC teachers, I truly learned a lot from you that has already helped me.

Love, Elder Willoughby.

If anyone wishes to ask Daniel a question or to send him a message, write it in the comments and I will make sure he receives it.

Related Posts

List of Daniel’s missionary posts.

Atlanta, Georgia

Presented here are portions of Elder Daniel Willoughby’s first email from the Georgia Atlanta Mission. Daniel’s departure for Mongolia has been delayed.

I made it to Georgia and the plane ride was great. We had the transfer meeting today and I met my trainer. It is his preparation day today so I am able to email. The mission president is really nice and I sent a letter to you that should come soon. We haven’t done anything yet so far except drive. I’m somewhere in Alabama. The people have a different accent. It’s really exciting to be here and I am excited to be able to talk to others. It will be a good experience. My companion is from Africa. He went to school for three years before his mission at BYU studying Computer engineering. I told him my whole family basically has done things with computers. He seems really nice and a good missionary. I met one of the members too, Brother Wilson, who gave us a ride. I am really happy to be out in the mission field, I want to work hard here and do as much as possible as I have no idea how long we’ll be here. I love you all and hope everything is going great. Thanks for all the pictures.

Love, Elder Willoughby.

If anyone wishes to ask Daniel a question or to send him a message, write it in the comments and I will make sure he receives it.